Assistant Professor from UCSB Presented US Presidential Award for Scientists and Engineers

Published on July 25, 2012 at 3:58 AM

By Cameron Chai

Ania Bleszynski Jayich, an assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) has received the esteemed Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

The awards are presented annually to the country’s engineers and scientists in the early stages of their career across diverse fields. The awards programme commenced in 1996 under the aegis of the Clinton administration. The PECASE awards recognize effective scientific and technological development and attempt to bridge the gap between national goals and fundamental scientific research. The 2012 PECASE awardees will be employed or their work funded by 11 federal agencies and departments.

Ania Jayich is one amongst 97 PECASE awardees this year. UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang expressed pride in the recognition that has come Jayich’s way. Jayich holds a doctorate in physics from Harvard University and a B.S in Physics and mathematical and computational science from Stanford. Her research work includes experiments conducted on a technique to facilitate nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging of protein structure. Jayich was appointed as a UCSB faculty in 2010 and is credited for significant accomplishments in employing scanning probe techniques in nanoscale systems to observe the quantum electrical transport and in design of magnetometry techniques of extremely high sensitivity for mesoscopic systems to study the quantum effects.

Jayich acknowledged the support received from the University, colleagues and her research funding sources and stated that the award will enable her lab to continue the study of quantum effects in nanoscale systems.